Koke'e State Park, Protected forest with hiking trails in Kauai, United States

Kōkeʻe State Park is a 4,345-acre protected area on a plateau between 3,200 and 4,200 feet on northwestern Kauaʻi, north of Waimea Canyon State Park. Its trails cross montane mesic forest of koa and ʻōhiʻa lehua, and State Road 550 ends at a lookout over Kalalau Valley. The park also holds the Kōkeʻe Museum, rental cabins and a historic CCC camp of 11 wood-frame buildings.

In 1935 the Civilian Conservation Corps built a camp of 11 wood-frame buildings around a grassed quadrangle in Kōkeʻe, used for forest management, trail and road work. After the CCC ended, the camp served during World War II, then Job Corps and Youth Conservation Corps programs, and was rehabilitated from 1990 with the Kōkeʻe Natural History Museum and volunteers. The Historic Hawaiʻi Foundation calls it the only one of Hawaii's five original CCC camps still in a natural area.

Native Hawaiian plants like ohia lehua trees grow throughout the park and hold special meaning in local traditions and beliefs. Visitors walking the trails encounter these species, which remain important to the communities who have lived in these uplands for centuries.

The park is open to visitors year-round, and those planning to hike should bring layers since conditions are cooler at higher elevations and fog is common. Overnight camping requires advance permission, while day-trippers can enter freely.

The Alakai Swamp Trail takes hikers across wooden boardwalks through a rare high-elevation wetland above 4,000 feet. This is one of the few places on earth where ancient bog terrain exists at such high elevations, making the walk an unusual experience.